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A serial burglar from Stratford, East London used nothing more complicated than his girlfriend's Lithuanian identity card to get into 10 Downing Street.

Obadiah Marius, 44, was freed on a suspended sentence from Southwark Crown Court yesterday, after pleading guilty to burglary over the incident.

In June last year he and his girlfriend found their way into the back offices of 10 Downing Street through an adjoining building on Whitehall. Once there they wandered around for a bit before being arrested outside 9 Downing street.

Marius was charged with burglary but his girlfriend was released without charge. They were originally arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act which restricts political protest within a kilometre of Parliament.

Southwark Crown Court sentenced Marius to a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months while he seeks treatment for his drug problems. The judge described him as a "persistent rogue", but offered him a final chance and a residential drug treatment order.

Marius also pleaded guilty of breaking into Snaresbrook Crown Court and pinching three judge's laptops.

A security guard told the Evening Standard that Marius may have held up something the guard mistook for a building pass.®